(I had this written up before I even read this post because I've had this discussion with many people before, I just had to find it on my computer.)

*My sister was on the way to Lakewood on the bus. All was quiet. Then, she heard a young girl, sitting a few seats ahead of her, who just became a kallah, share all her excitement with her friend on the other line. She told her just about everything about her chosson and her dating experiences, his age, how many times they went out, how he proposed and more. Since she was sooo excited, she was talking even louder than loud!!!

Of course, the ENTIRE bus was able to hear the whole conversation…but the new kallah was oblivious to all…

On her way back from Lakewood, my sister saw this girl again and wished her a hearty Mazel Tov.“Thanks, but I don’t know you! How do you know that I’m engaged?!” the girl asked.

“What do you mean? I know a lot of other things as well!!” And my sister started to tell her some of the things she knew about her chosson, and that she can even tell her how he proposed…because she heard it all on the way to Lakewood when the kallah was schmoozing with her friend on her cell phone…

THE GIRL WAS MORTIFIED!! She did not intend to publicly announce this personal information…

Well, my sister thanked this girl for teaching her such a valuable lesson and for showing her how important it is to keep your conversations at the lowest decibel possible.

*I was shopping in a grocery store and heard someone discussing a whole custody case between the father and the mother and who she thought the kids should go to!! I mean, what is going on??!! People have totally lost their sense of privacy!!

*I was waiting outside for someone and got to hear a kallah talking on her phone about the possibility of breaking her engagement because the in-laws were mixing in too much. She was talking LOUD and animatedly, with her hands and all (because she was so upset) and I even went over to her (a total stranger) and motioned to her to lower her volume. It worked for about two minutes. I was so nervous for her. Baruch Hashem, I saw her a little while later with her hair covered! But why on earth do I have to know that there were issues going on and her engagement was almost broken off?

I think that this is where the issue of tznius lies today. People can be covered from head to toe, but if they don’t know how to keep their mouths covered when they are in the street, then they have totally lost the understanding of what tznius is all about!! It’s not just about what you wear and how much you cover yourself up, but it’s also about how you conduct yourself when you are in public. Someone who understands what true modesty is will walk in the street in a refined manner, without publicizing to the world everything that is going on in their lives.

I love 4. In terms of hilchos shmiras halashon, does that count as announcing something in public? Technically, she's only asked the caller not to repeat it, which means that everyone around her listening should be able to megaphone it about town.

I heard a much stranger phone conversation. A woman was asking if the fire was down yet. She went on to tell the person on the other end that if the fire had gone down, then she could have walked out. Despite the way it sounded, I just can't believe that she was speaking to someone trapped in a building on fire. She sounded much too calm.

Sometimes I might make up a phone conversation loudly just to see how others respond to it. Last week I had a one-sided conversation while holding my phone to my ear about people wiping their nose-pickings on the sofa. I got a good amount of weird looks. Good to know people pay attention.

Ariella, I think she was talking about the stovetop or something like that. I work for a woman who asks me to close the flame or fire for her. She means turn off the burner on the stove.

If you only heard bits and pieces, I can see that maybe she asked someone to turn it down and was trying to get confirmation that it was done and the person was busy yammering on about something else and not providing the caller with confirmation.